Collected Treatises on Classical Novels, by Du Guichen, China Social Sciences Press, September 2021.
Synopsis
The book is an anthology of the author's 40-year research papers on the classical novel. The content is mainly about the study of the "Four Great Wonder Books" of the Ming Dynasty and the so-called "Three Great Novels of Qianlong" ("Ru Lin Wai Shi", "Dream of the Red Chamber", "Misguided Street Lamp"), "Liaozhai Zhiyi" and other "Eight Famous Works". The research applies the theory of "literary mathematical criticism" proposed by the author, exposes the narrative mode or creation method of "three complex plots", "three pole construction", "two-eight law", "'June 1' mode", "'midpoint' mode", "five narratives" of classical novel narratives, as well as the "Stone Record", "Fairy Guiding", "Orientation", "Anti-imitation" narrative mode or creation method related to many books; proposes and argues for "Luo (Guanzhong) Learning", cracks the mystery of "Liangshan Po of Taihang Mountain", discovers the secret relationship between Taishan and novels such as "Water Margin" and "Journey to the West", and proposes "' Ya 'guan popular' means interpreting the research methods of the eight famous works with the attitude of "governing the scriptures". Questioning and solving puzzles and new insights are useful references for ordinary readers and related professional research.
Contents
Self-prologue
Narrative and mathematical theory
"The Unity of Heaven and Man" and several patterns of the structure of ancient novels
The Ancient Concept of the Number "Three" and the Novel's "Three-Fold Plot"
The rheology of the ancient Chinese novel "Three Complex Plots" and its aesthetic characteristics
The "Law of Two Eights" in the Narrative of Seven Novels, including Romance of the Three Kingdoms
- An academic curiosity and adventure
An outline of the "June 1st" model of the marriage and love narrative in ancient Chinese novels
——From "Li Sheng's Sixth Heavenly Edge" and "Jin Ping Mei" to "Dream of the Red Chamber"
Chapter back to the narrative of the novel "midpoint" mode of the narrative
——An artistic feature of four novels, including Romance of the Three Kingdoms
"Five generations and chops" with ancient novel narratives
——The "Five Narratives" model from "Water Margin" to Qianlong novels
The "Three-Fold Plot" of the Outer History of Ru Lin and its significance
Prototyping and imitation
One Spirit Stone, Three Great Books
——The narrative mode of "Stone Record" from "Water Margin" and "Journey to the West" to "Dream of the Red Chamber"
Three goddesses, one kind of character
——From "Water Margin" and "Journey to the West" to "Dream of the Red Chamber", the narrative mode of "Fairy Guiding the Way"
From "Ximen" to "Jaffa"
——From the ancient word splitting technique and the concept of "Western" to the influence of "Jin Ping Mei" on "Dream of the Red Chamber"
"Journey to the West" to "West", "The Red Chamber" to "East"
——"Dream of the Red Chamber" and "Journey to the West" Narrative "Orientation" And "Reflection" Theory
On the deaths of Ximen Qing and Lin Daiyu
——And the anti-imitation of "Dream of the Red Chamber" on "Jin Ping Mei"
"Dream of the Red Chamber" is the "anti-imitation" and "reflection" theory of "Jin Ping Mei"
Let's talk about the formation and development of the ancient Chinese novel tradition of writing "people" with "things"
——Take "tight hoops", "Hu monk medicine" and "cold incense pills" as examples
On the "Direct Influence" of "Dream of the Red Chamber" from the story of "Hard Stone Nodding"
Cross-examination and new reading
In the past hundred years, the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is a prominent example of academic failure
-- On the "Luo Guanzhong" article of the "Continuation of the Recorded Ghost Book", it should be suspended or doubted
Ancient novels examine the mistakes of the same name and their countermeasures
——Take the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and "Journey to the West" as examples
"Romance of the Three Kingdoms" Xu Shugui Cao's story source flow examination
——On the relationship between the script and the variations, as well as the vision and method of the "Three Kingdoms Studies"
On the reading of the ancient Chinese novel "Ya" and "Popular"
——Take the details of "Water Margin" "Black Whirlwind Yiling Kills Four Tigers" as an example
The classification of "legendary" names and literary novels
"The Biography of Li Wa" is not a "love theme" novel
- Combining "confirmed bias" or "preference acceptance" in textual interpretation
A permanent symbol of the human plight
——Cultural interpretation of "Baby Ning"
"Luo Xue" and "Romance of the Three Kingdoms"
A new theory of "Luo Xue"
-- Proposal, reason, content and prospect
"Romance of the Three Kingdoms" was written in a new era
Luo Guanzhong, the author of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", is a Yuan ren and the original guan guan
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On the literary nature and creative nature of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Tarzan and "Water Margin" examination
"Water Margin" is nominally examined
——Discussed with Mr. Wang Liqi and Mr. Luo Ergang
Try to say that Taishan is not called "Taihang Mountain"
- and the misreading of some novels and operas
A brief discussion of the mutual names of Tai (Tai) Mountain and Taihang Mountain, Hua Shan, etc. and their influence on literature
"Water Margin" is an examination of the "Shi Jie Ji"
Eternal woman, leading the water margin to rise
——Water Margin's true attitude towards women and marriage
"Water Margin" "Wang Po sells tea" examination
Journey to the West and Tarzan
"Journey to the West" and Taishan relationship examination
A discussion of the relics of Sun Wukong around Mount Tai
——An example of the influence of "Journey to the West" on Taishan culture
"Journey to the West" writes about monkeys and "Liaozhai Zhiyi" writes about the function of the fox's "tail"
——And the cultural significance of "rare human body"
"Journey to the West" writes about Sun Wukong's mistake and new interpretation of the goblin's self-proclaimed "grandfather"
"Sun Wukong" nominal solution
Tang Monk's "Purple Gold Bowl"
Examination of the History of Rulin
Let's say that "Rulin's Outer History" is a "Rulin" and "realistic" novel
——And reflections on Lu Xun's "Book of Irony"
Traditional Culture and the Character Examination of the Outer History of Rulin
"Fame and fortune are the bones of a piece"
——On the structural main line of the "History of Rulin"
"Ru Lin Wai Shi" "False Ming Dynasty" theory
"Dream of the Red Chamber" and other "family novels" research
The "New Myth" of "Dream of the Red Chamber" is observed
"Dream of the Red Chamber" "Big Purpose Talk" theory
"Dream of the Red Chamber" "psychic treasure jade" skill or prototype new theory
On the death of Wu Dalang
A Brief Introduction to the Misguided Lights
The Buddha's edge and the "Tan (Talk)" wind in Li Luyuan's "Misguided Street Lamp"
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A few questions about "The Wrong Way"
Self-prologue
This collection consists of 50 articles, and the author mainly selects some papers on the "Four Great Wonder Books" of the Ming Dynasty and the so-called "Three Novels of Qianlong" in the Qing Dynasty ("The History of Ru Lin", "Dream of the Red Chamber", "The Lamp of the Wrong Road") and "Liaozhai Zhiyi", so it can also be said that it is a collection of treatises on the "Eight Famous Works" of ancient Chinese novels.
"Du Guichen's Collected Writings", by Du Guichen, Mulan Cultural Undertaking Co., Ltd., March 2019 edition.
Seven of the "Eight Masterpieces" are recognized by the world, but Li Luyuan's "Misguided Street Lamp" was written later in the "History of Ru Lin" and "Dream of the Red Chamber", but it has not been widely circulated for a long time, and it has only been widely known since the 1980s, or it is suspected that it is not worthy.
In fact, in the past hundred years, many important scholars who have read "The Wrong Road Lamp" think that this book and "Ru Lin Wai Shi" and "Dream of the Red Chamber" are between Bo Zhong, which is "dingzu and three", so it can be called "Qianlong Three Novels" [1]. Mr. Cheng Yizhong, a senior editor and reviewer of Zhonghua Bookstore and a well-known scholar, answered a reporter's question: "In my research, I am more concerned... In addition to the 'Six Masterpieces', what I most hope to recommend to young people to read more is Li Luyuan's "Misguided Street Lamp". ”[2]
As far as the ancient popular novel is concerned, the author is deeply convinced of his theory, and there is a saying of the "Seven Masterpieces" [3]. Nowadays, because there are one or two articles in this collection that involve "Liaozhai Zhiyi", it is called the "Eight Famous Works" Yun.
As mentioned above, the collection of famous works is called the famous zhuan, and the more popular "four famous works" ("Romance of the Three Kingdoms", "Water Margin", "Journey to the West", "Dream of the Red Chamber") said, although it is mainly for the convenience of the reference, but the difference in the name and the choice in the "ranking of seats" in the books, of course, contain different value judgments under many considerations, which are not discussed.
The reason mentioned here, in addition to appreciating the saying of the "Eight Masterpieces", is also because the "Eight Masterpieces" have the largest number of readers and researchers in ancient Chinese novels, and it is a great honor for the author to further participate in its reading and research with this collection!
Qilu Culture and Ming and Qing Novels
These papers are broadly divided into two categories, one is a discussion of a book in general or a certain aspect, and the other is a discussion of the similarities and differences of several books and further extensions. Because of the differences and connections in the content of each article, it can be divided into eight groups. Although the content and characteristics of each group can be roughly known from the table of contents, it is still slightly sorted out as follows.
The first group of 8 articles, "Narrative and Mathematics", is from the "unity of heaven and man" to the formation of narrative mode, from "three and one" to the characteristics of various narrative modes controlled by "number".
This is the basis and application of the so-called "mathematical criticism" [4] that I proposed and admired by Mr. Yuan Shishuo (a tenured professor at the School of Literature of Shandong University) as "the most creative and unique research". This kind of self-made advocacy has been falsely awarded by scholars as "Mr. Du Guichen's literary mathematical criticism", "the uniqueness and convenience of his methods and terminology are unquestionable, the road of literary mathematical criticism has just begun, and its theoretical construction and criticism practice have a long way to go" [5], and so on.
The author of this theory itself has discussed it separately [6], but the "three-fold plot", "three-pole construction", "two-eight law", "'June 1st' mode", "'midpoint' mode", "five-life narrative", etc., which are all "new terms" of "literary mathematical criticism".
Mathematical Criticism and Examination of fiction
Although it is "fabricated", it is all based on the law of birth and deliberation, and it is an original book, and it is not a reason to make it mysterious. If it is not proper, or if it is generous, then "not laughing is not enough"—it can lead to more concern and useful lessons for colleagues to pay more attention to the innovation of literary theory and criticism methods because of my mistakes.
The second group of 8 articles, "Archetype and Imitation", mainly explores the "Four Wonder Books" and "Dream of the Red Chamber" in the overall conception, character archetypes, plot design, the use of objects and other aspects of the inheritance and imitation, from which summarize and put forward "Stone Record", "Fairy Guiding", "Orientation", "Anti-imitation" and so on.
These studies are all based on the characteristics of the later imitation and innovation of the relevant masterpieces, and cooperate with the first group to reveal the tradition of the so-called "strange book style" of the books, which also has a certain significance of theoretical thinking.
The third group of 7 articles, "Cross-examination and New Reading", is derived from the case study of a book or a specific problem, and tries to put forward some principles, ideas or methods for the identification, application and interpretation of data in the study of classical novels, specifically involving the examination of the titles and authors of several famous books, the interpretation of the "zhijing" attitude of "popular" novels, the influence of subjective "prejudice" or "preference" in reading, and so on.
"The Three" and the Romance of the Three Kingdoms
The fourth group of "'Luo Xue' and "Romance of the Three Kingdoms"" 4 articles, containing two aspects, one is to put forward the concept of "Luo (Guanzhong) Studies", of course, based on Luo Guanzhong's great contribution to ancient Chinese novels and the need to further highlight and deepen Luo Guanzhong's research, but it is also not without reference to "Shakespeare" and "Cao (Xueqin) Studies" and other literary personal names; second, under the framework of "Luo Xue", this group of books on the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" was written "Yuan Taiding Three Years (1326)", "Luo Guanzhong" The Romance of the Three Kingdoms is the first novel created by literati in ancient China" and the "original" appearance of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, all of which are or have been "hot spots" in the study of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and there is no consensus so far.
The fifth group of "Taishan and the "Water Margin" Examination" and the sixth group "Journey to the West" and Taishan Examination" each 6 articles, respectively, mainly on the relationship between Taishan and the "Water Margin" or "Journey to the West", the former examines the so-called "Taihang Mountain Liangshan Po" in the "Xuanhe Testament" (this is the "nail household" in the study of "Water Margin" and other novels) the so-called "Taihang Mountain" is actually the alias of Taishan, cracking the suspense of similar statements in a number of classical novels and operas; the latter exposes the "Journey to the West" and uses a large number of Ming Jiajing's "Journey to the West" The names of more than 40 landscapes on Mount Taishan before the book was written show that Taishan is the geographical background of the "Journey to the West" writing "Huaguo Mountain" and "Three Realms", and Sun Wukong is also the literary cause of "Taishan Monkey".
Selected Writings of Water Margin and Shandong
In addition, a number of specific issues were discussed, such as "The True Attitude of Water Margin to Women and Marriage", Sun Wukong's "Ruyi Golden Hoop Stick" in Journey to the West, and tang Monk's new solution to "Purple Gold Bowl". It was discovered and known at the time or by chance, but it is still important today, and it is still thought that inspiration is also helpful.
The following 4 articles in the seventh group and 8 articles in the eighth group respectively discuss some issues of "family novels" such as "Ru lin wai shi" or "Dream of the Red Chamber", such as whether "Ru Lin Wai Shi" should be considered "Ru Lin novel" and some character archetype examination and its "main line of structure", and whether "Dream of the Red Chamber" is "realism" or "new myth", etc., which are quite different or even opposed to the previous assertions.
In summary, although the proposed topics of each group are not in full agreement, or the attribution of individual articles is not completely accurate, it can be seen that the first three groups are partial to the theory, which is an investigation of certain commonalities in the books; the last five groups are partial to the division of theories, and the texts are each a discussion of one or several aspects of one or more aspects of the eight famous works, which are the focus of the author's classical novel research at different times.
The Collected Writings of Du Guichen (Volume VI)
If the papers in this collection can reflect the overall characteristics of the author's classical novel research, then the first is the greatest demand for the broadest readers, which is different from the so-called "unpopular" academic orientation; the second is the development of the knowledge of one book after another into a masterpiece and a lateral comparative study, rather than the main one; the third is to strive to look at the novel from all culture and literature, and to see the "eight masterpieces" from all novels, and there are many discoveries that benefit from foreign theoretical and poetic research, such as the transplantation of the "Two Eight Law" and the peeping of Zhang Xianshi from the Ming Dynasty. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms was written, referring to the European and American novel tradition Luo Guanzhong's "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" as the first novel created by the literati, and so on; the fourth is not only to discuss things in order to seek truth, but also to pay attention to theoretical generalizations or summaries of research methods, and even the philosophical thinking that actually involves Chinese handling things" is divided into two in principle and divided into three in operation, and so on.
Nevertheless, in the face of the "Eight Masterpieces" and even the broader literary ocean, the collection of treatises is at most like a spoonful of drinking or occasionally picking up shellfish, and the feeling of self-satisfaction is not necessarily accurate, especially the theoretical and methodological "new terms" that are not lacking in this treatise.
But the essence of academic research is to discover and innovate, and to be prepared and not afraid of failure. Because in the author's view, today's literary theory and research methods in China need a stable "ancient for the present", but also need to borrow a knife to solve the cattle "take doctrine", but more need from the research object itself "copper mining in the mountains" of "Made in China", just like the high-tech field does not ignore the "core technology" of independent innovation because you can buy ready-made "chips" and the like.
Traditional Culture and Classical Novels
As early as 20 years ago (2001), Professor Zhang Peiheng, a famous scholar who had only recently known Jingjing, seemed to have discovered something in the "Preface" composed by him for his book "Traditional Culture and Classical Novels", saying:
In Mr. Du Guichen's collection of papers, I saw such a pursuit. He always seemed to hope to make a discovery, rather than being satisfied with the steamed buns that others had chewed; but he never arbitrarily mixed new doctrines with ancient Chinese literature. Thus, the discoveries he has contributed to the reader, while not seemingly vast and brilliant, are real and useful. [7]
Mr. Imaharu returned to Daoshan early, revisited and thanked Mr. Daoshan once again, hoping that in the direction spurred by Mr. I.
The texts are about one-third of the research papers on ancient novels written by the author, and the time of writing spans nearly 40 years from 1982 to 2020, and most of them have been published or reprinted and excerpted.
On the occasion of the publication of this collection, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to the editors and friends of relevant periodicals and newspapers! Special thanks to Dr. Wang Xiaoxi for his wisdom and hard work in editing this book! Her questioning of articles such as "Examination of relations with Tarzan" prompted me to make important revisions and additions.
History of Ancient Chinese Short Stories
I would also like to thank my son, Ms. Hou Yufang, for taking on most of the household chores so that I could concentrate on this, and for my son Du Bin for helping to verify and unify the style of the notes during the break when his "Tea Classics and Continuations of the Tea Classics" had just been published.
If there are individual views, phrases or comments on the original text revisions or additions in the selection, and if there are still some doubts and fallacies in the selection, please ask the readers and experts to correct them.
Du Guichen was ordered under the Quancheng calendar
February 17, 2021
About the Author
Recent photo by the author
Du Guichen, born in 1950. He graduated from the Department of Chinese Languages of Chinese University in 1982. He worked in Beijing for a short time; later, he taught at Qufu Normal University, Hebei University, and Shandong Normal University; professor of ancient literature, doctoral supervisor of ancient literature and literature. He has published twelve volumes of Du Guichen's Collected Writings, History of Ancient Chinese Short Stories, Li Luyuan and (an additional version), Xiaodou Shed (Proofreading), and Selected Poems of Ming.
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exegesis:
[1] See Du Guichen, Li Luyuan and the Misguided Road Lamp (revised edition), Zhongzhou Ancient Books Publishing House, 2019, pp. 14-27.
[2] See Du Guichen, Li Luyuan and the Misguided Road Lamp (revised edition), Zhongzhou Ancient Books Publishing House, 2019, pp. 82-83.
[3] See Du Guichen, Li Luyuan and the Lamp of the Wrong Way (revised edition), Zhongzhou Ancient Books Publishing House, 2019, pp. 533-536.
[4] Yuan Shishuo's "Preface", in Du Guichen's "Criticism of Mathematics and Fiction", Qilu Book Society, 2006 edition.
[5] Su Wenqing, Xiong Ying, "The Third Space of "Harry Potter" and Its Significance:Criticism of Mathematical Thesis", Journal of Jiangnan University, No. 2, 2012; Su Wenqing, Xiong Ying, ""Three Lives and All Things" and "On The Literary Mathematical Criticism of Mr. Du Guichen", Journal of Guangzhou University, No. 4, 2012.
[6] Du Guichen, "The Tradition of Heavy Numbers and mathematical beauty of ancient Chinese literature: Combining mathematical criticism of ancient Chinese literature", Chinese Social Sciences, No. 4, 2002; Du Guichen, "Outline of "Literary Mathematical Criticism": Reflections centered on "Mathematical Criticism of Ancient Chinese Literature"", Journal of Shandong Normal University, No. 1, 2004, etc.
[7] Du Guichen, Traditional Culture and Classical Novels, Hebei University Press, 2001.